A Kind Stranger
by BloodyRose Kain
Summary: A sweet short story of Naruto and Hinata from when they were young. Hinata has always looked up to Naruto and all she wants is to repay him for always helping keep her spirits up. Then one day she rescues him from bullies and finally gets the chance to say "thank you." Enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

A Shoulder To Cry On

A NaruHina Fanfiction

Alone. That's how she always found him. Not that she went out of her way to find him or anything. Well no that's not true. She did go out of her way to find the lonesome blond. She didn't know when it had happened but one day she caught herself staring at the class clown with a heavy heart. But why? Because he was always mocked and bullied? Or because despise the harsh treatment he always brought upon himself he always seemed determined to prove himself. He was always harassed and didn't have any close friends. Sure at times he would skip class with Choji, Kiba, and Shikamaru but those guys weren't his friends. He was always being loud and obnoxious challenging Sasuke during class when it was obvious to everyone he was going to lose. Before each battle he would exclaim that he would win and at the end, when he lost, he would shout that next he would not be defeated. Everyone in class could agree that the guy was a loser that didn't know when to give up. But unlike everyone else she saw his potential. He was constantly training with high spirits. She knew one day he would achieve his goal of not only getting everyone to acknowledge him, or just defeating Sasuke, but becoming Hokage.

Being his only supporter she knew if he ever found out that would make him truly happy. For all the big talk from him she could see that he desperately wanted to have a friend. Anyone would do so long as he had someone by his side that cared for him. It was obvious yet she could not bring herself to even make eye contact with him. It made her feel miserable knowing that she could easily become important to him and she didn't do anything about it. She so desperately wanted to reach out to him but she didn't have a strong will and she always lost her confidence whenever she decided she would tell him how she felt. When she lost her confidence she would want to cry and sometimes she did because during the day she would have to endure watching him make a spectacle of himself to being scowled at and mocked by her fellow classmates. If she had his confidence she would stand up for him, if she had his determination she would be a better Hyuga. Only if she was more like him than maybe than she would be able to like herself more.

Today they practiced their combat skills by doing one on one matches. She went against Ino. Ino was a confident girl that had lots of friends. The blond beauty was a polar opposite to her wallflower opponent. She came at her head on, which only startled Hinata. She did her best to avert the other girl's endless blows but at the end she lost. Ino gave her a standard nice try than she left her to join her big group of friends. Leaving Hinata to catch her breath as she tried to recompose herself. While she composed herself she froze when she heard a cry of pain. Looking up from dusting herself off she saw that the other children had formed a circle. She caught a flash of blonde hair then another grunt was heard.

_ Naruto! _She could feel herself start to panic as she rushed to the crowd. She weaved her way through the crowd until she was at the front of the crowd. Naruto had obviously chosen Sasuke to be his opponent. Naruto was barely holding his own as he was already covered in dirt from being thrown at the ground and he was breathing hard. Sasuke stood a couple feet away from Naruto without even a scratch on him. He was in a relaxed fighting pose ready for another futile attempt from Naruto. How was it that he was always impeccable? No matter how many times Naruto fought him; he could never lay a single blow to him. All Naruto ever got from Sasuke was a disgusted look and a cruel smirk each time he won. Hinata's heart yearned to speak up and say that at least Naruto had guts to take Sasuke on while everyone just easily admitted defeat to the great Uchiha. She knew she didn't have the courage to say those words. How could she stand up for someone else when she couldn't even speak up for herself? Naruto charged at Sasuke with a sneer on his face and fist aimed at the Uchiha's face. Naruto closed in on the Uchiha and just as his fist was about to connect with the other's boy's face, he dodged. A simple head turn and the fist went sailing past his face. Naruto face turned to an expression of shock before twisting into a pained one. While he had been distracted by Sasuke's dodge, Sasuke countered with a blow of his own to Naruto's stomach. Naruto's eyes widened as he lost all his breath and was sent flying a couple feet away. The crowd moved stepping aside from him as he hit the ground. He twitch a bit let out a grunt of pain but didn't get up. The crowd cheered Sasuke, who seemed to bask in their compliments.

Their fight had been the last one to end and so with Sasuke winning Iruka assembled the class to head back inside. Hinata wanted to point out that Naruto was still lying on the ground but before she could Naruto got up. He looked extremely disappointed and hurt as he walked toward the other children. He walked slowly while rubbing his sore stomach. Hinata hesitated as she was tempted to walk back to him, but a shove from a random classmate made her get caught in the current of children.

When it was lunch time Hinata made her way to the school's courtyard. Since she had no friends she chose to eat away from everybody else instead of having to feel uncomfortable in the classroom filled with chattering carefree children. Course she knew she wasn't the only lonesome child in her class and really if she wanted to she could make friends. There wasn't anything about her that was truly strange. Besides being extremely timid and having absolutely no self-confidence she was a pretty typical kid. Oh, but she was also a major failure which didn't help her self-esteem at all. Coming from a great clan many would expect her to be greatly gifted, like Sasuke, but no, she wasn't special at all. All the natural talent went to her younger sister, her dad's favorite. She, who was supposed to be the clan's heir, was instead the clan's biggest shame.

How she longed to improve herself and with her new teacher she thought maybe she could do better. Kurenai was a great woman that was an extremely talented ninja and she was actually nice to her. She didn't baby her, but she was never unnecessarily harsh with her either, like her father had been. Yes, she knew that the only reason Kurenai was her teacher was because her father had lost patience with her. She had deeply disappointed her father and hearing him say that she was worthless deeply scared her. Kurenai could try her hardest improving her but Hinata would feel like a waste of time.

If only she had Naruto's motivation and determination to strive and be better. She, just like him, wanted people to approve of her and acknowledge her great ninja skills. But she knew that was only a fool's dream as she had done nothing to get acknowledge for or done anything to deserve anybody's approval. Hinata curled her hands into fists, threatening to break the chopsticks she held. She hated being alone her thought s always made her miserable. Her negativity always shook her up causing her to burst into tears at times. Biting her lip Hinata slowly composed herself. After a shaky breathe she resumed eating her bento.

Walking home Hinata tried to focus her thoughts about the homework they have been given instead of the cold welcome back she would be receiving from her father once she arrived home. "Stop!" Hinata came to an abrupt stop as she recognized the voice. Looking around she noticed that a couple feet ahead of her was a group of boys. Her curiosity getting the better of her, she continued to walk on with more caution. As she neared the gang of boys she realized they were beating someone up. She started to panic and was about to run away when she caught sight of blonde hair. _No!_ What could he have possibly done to receive this horrible treatment?

Her entire body stood rooted to the ground as she watched in horror as the boys mercilessly beat up the blonde boy. To make matters worse she couldn't see any adults to stop this. _Please, please get up!_ Hinata felt her body clamp up as her panic worsen. He couldn't get up because he had been knocked out. _Naruto! _At this rate he would end up seriously injured or worse dead. Dead. As thought a trigger Hinata found herself slowly moving toward the boys. Gaining unknown courage the young Hyuga girl soon found herself standing in front of the unconscious boy's body with her arms stretched out. Her sudden involvement caused the boys to cease their assault.

The boys seemed bewildered at first but soon the one closest to her spoke up. "Move it," He commanded with disgust written all over his features. His fellow friends nodded in agreement putting their fists up to continue beating up the blonde.

Hinata flinched at his words but slowly shook her head. "N-no. What you guys are doing is wrong," Hinata looked up at them with a determine look in her eyes. "And if you want to continue you have to go pass me," Keeping their gaze Hinata slowly adjusted herself to a fighting stance.

Startled at her challenge the boys hesitated for a moment before lowering their fists. "Whatever, let's go," The boys gave one last disgusted look at the young Hyuga before walking away.

Relief spread throughout Hinata's body making her collapse to the ground next to the unconscious boy's body. She did it. She had finally stood up for Naruto! As she looked at Naruto's face she couldn't help but smile. His face looked so peacefully, in fact his relaxed features allowed her to better study his face. She never really thought much about it, but Naruto was actually really cute. As soon as that thought crossed her mind her face turned bright red. Hinata started shaking her head ferociously in futile attempted to get rid of her darkening blush.

Regaining her composure Hinata grabbed Naruto's arms pulling them over her shoulders. She slowly got up making sure to balance Naruto on her back. Once she made sure that he was securely on her back she started walking. She wanted to get him home so he wouldn't end up catching his death lying on the uncomfortable ground during the chilly night. But soon she realized that as sweet and noble her idea was, she had no idea where he lived. She couldn't take him to her home; her father would likely throw his body back to the streets.

_Oh no!_ She was feeling her panic from earlier coming back. She couldn't leave him here, but she also didn't know where he lived. What to do, what to do! Hinata was making herself dizzy and giving herself a major headache. Gulping down her panic she continued walking, maybe once she got to town she could ask around.

It had taken the last remaining hours of sunlight but at the end she had found out where Naruto lived. Now she was standing outside his door struggling to get Naruto's key from his pockets. After struggling for a few minutes getting the key and then struggling to keep her balance Hinata was finally through the front door. Her body ached from the long walk to his apartment but she used one last burst of energy at getting to his bedroom and lying him down on his bed. Sighing in relief and stretching her sore limps Hinata smiled contently to herself for a job well done.

After resting for a bit and regaining some of her energy Hinata stood up groaning as her body protested moving. Naruto's bed was pretty big and from how peaceful he was sleeping it was obviously very comfortable. Just thinking of lying her head down on his bed was enough to get her eyelids heavy. She stood there for a moment fighting back her sleepiness. Her eyelids kept closing and before she knew it she had lost her balance. She had fallen forward. Her face only inches from Naruto's. Being that close to him was the equivalent of be doused in ice cold water. Pushing herself up, Hinata made herself busy. First she took off Naruto's sandals then she went on a search for his first aid kit.

After taking care of his injuries, cleaning up the supplies and tucking him under his covers Hinata prepared to leave. But before she even touched the doorknob she heard a very audible stomach growl. Her shoulders drooped slightly before she shook off her weariness and headed to the kitchen. She didn't know many recipes but from what limited supply of groceries he had she didn't need to. It was getting late but she only concentrated on preparing a stew so when Naruto awoke he would have food already prepared. Finally after an hour or so the stew was prepared. She didn't know when he would wake up the best she could guess was a few hours. Not wanting to leave the stove on for too long she decided to leave a note on his table saying how long to heat the stew if it was cold by the time he awoke. _Okay that's all! _Hinata smiled to herself. She'd done all that she could and now all that was left was to head home.

The next day she was still tired from yesterday. Though her body longed for more sleep she still got up at her normal time and prepared for school like every other day. The only noticeable difference to her was the gentle smile on her face. When she had gotten home her father had been furious at her for arriving home so late and she had apologized profoundly. At the end he had just told her not to do it again. Heading out the door the walk to school was uneventful until she got to the village. Hearing the villagers talk bad about Naruto, as much as she hated it, was a common thing, but what she heard this morning truly confused her and what she saw almost made her die from embarrassment.

Painted all over the buildings was a giant thank you message. It was addressed to her, or was meant for her, as she continued walking through the market place the message never specifically said her name but it did say kind stranger. It was a message from Naruto thanking her for everything she did for him including a p.s. telling her that the stew was awesome almost even better than instant ramen. While the villagers just found it as another nuisance that they would have to clean themselves Hinata was close to tears from how strongly the message had affected her. The rest of the way she had difficulty keeping her composure. She had helped him because he was basically like an idol to her; she strived to be like him. Her spirits were always lifted because of him and now he was thanking her, very publically, for something that anybody with a good heart would do. "Ne" Hinata couldn't take it anymore she walked to the side of the street hunched over as her tears spilled from her red rimmed eyes. All she had done was take him home. Nothing special and yet he had thanked her publicly for everyone to know of her kindness. She should be the one to thank him not the other way around! She kept wiping her tears away but they continued streaming down. She muffled her mouth so no one walking by could hear her whimpering.

"Hey are you okay" Hinata felt fingers gently tap her shaking shoulder. Looking back she saw that it was Naruto. He had a genuine worried expression which only brought more tears to her eyes. Great now he was even concerned for her! She wanted to say she was fine but when she opened her mouth all that came out was a whimper. Naruto now looked extremely worried and before she knew it she was surrounded in warmth. Her eyes widened in disbelief as her breath hitched. She was in Naruto's arms. Her entire body froze at that thought. He was comforting her. Her instants told her to push him away but her heart told her otherwise. His arms were so comfortable. Hinata rested her head on his chest as Naruto held her lightly as she finished crying. When she finally stopped trembling and he could no longer hear her cry he dared to speak. "Are you okay now?" He asked timidly afraid she might burst into tears once more. "Huh?" Hinata pushed him away gently until they were face to face.

"I-I said thank y-you," Hinata made eye contact with him for a split second before looking back down at the ground her face already burning up.

Naruto was stood there shocked for a moment it had been a long time since anybody had thanked him for anything. He couldn't help the blush that crept onto his face. "It was nothing just glad that you're alright now" Naruto looked away as he scratched the back of his head.

Hinata looked up at him with a timid smile pulling at her mouth. She bowed politely and spoke softly "Thank you for everything Naruto."

"Huh? What did you say?" Naruto looked at her bewildered wanting to ask her want she meant but it was too late immediately after saying that she ran off. He wanted to run after her and question her further, but her words kept him rooted to the ground. She had thanked him for everything. What was everything? Letting her soak his shirt with her tears? Whatever it was when she had said his name he was positive his heart had skipped a beat. And strangely enough he had liked that feeling. Whoever she was he hopped that if she ever needed a shoulder to cry on she would come to him.


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own Naruto. Enjoy.**

Happiness. That was the first word that came to mind for Hinata every time she laid eyes on Naruto. Ever since that morning there seemed to be some renewed life in his eyes. Usually she was the only one who noticed Naruto's subtle mood changes but although he wasn't doing anything out of ordinary he still seemed different. When he was put down by his fellow peers usually that would affect him for a bit but instead he brushed it off and just went along with their mockery. His good spirits could not be brought down. After a while people stopped making rude comments as his good mood was becoming contagious whether people realized it or not. Hinata wanted to bask in his warmth that many unknowingly were being attracted to. She wanted to go up to him so bad, worse now than ever, but any courage she had yesterday was completely gone.

She could only hide in the sidelines as many more people became attracted to Naruto's good aura as it became stronger. By lunch time Naruto was no longer visible as he was swarmed by his classmates all eager to speak to him and just be in his warm presences that put everyone in a good mood. The few glimpses that Hinata achieved to get were of him with a big goofy grin on his face. She knew she should be happy that Naruto was finally getting the attention he so deserved but her heart kept thumping against her chest in a painful unwanted way that made her feel horrible. She lied to herself telling herself that she was happy for him and maybe it was true but not entirely and only her head thought that, her heart had darker feelings swirling within it.

Naruto was currently standing in the middle of a big crowd all focused on him in front of the academy gates. Hinata swung back and forth on the swing attached to the tree only a couple yards from the gates. She could hear the other children laughing and talking loudly to each other but most of them were yelling loudly to one specific person desperately wanting that one person's attention. _Naruto! Naruto! Naruto!_ Each time his name rang in her ears it felt like a stab wound to her heart. Any longer and she would soon die from heartache. Her eyes stung from holding back tears of pain and jealousy. She should be the one with Naruto saying his name happily and feeling the warmth radiating off his person. It wasn't fair! Hinata clutched the ropes tightly biting her lip hard enough that soon a small tickle of blood appeared on her chin. She hated everyone so much that very moment but she hated herself even more for having such ugly feelings. It was bad enough that she was always negative about herself but now her feelings were about others as well. Such ugly feelings made her an ugly girl. If she went near Naruto she would only destroy his good mood. He was like a flower that had just bloomed and everyone wanted to see it if she came along her dark, ugly feelings would only wilt away his beauty and scare away all of his admirers. She could not be selfish, just like always she just had to accept the fact that he was just not meant for her. It was a hard blow to handle but she had learned to never to get too attached to anything let it be person, object, idea or dream because at the end it would either be crushed, taken away or just disappear from her life. This one person, though, her heart had really been set on getting.

Lunch soon ended and the students headed back inside, all still very much focused on Naruto. Hinata slowly got up from the simple swing and made her way back inside following the cluster of loud laughing and screaming kids. Because of the inner turmoil she had been dealing with Hinata completely neglected her bento realizing this fact too late Hinata mood was worsen as now she would have to deal with the constant growling from her stomach. Entering the classroom Hinata headed to her seat in the front row. She no longer wanted to be in class although everyone seemed to be in high spirits and getting along she was disgusted by their behavior. Usually everyone would be in their own little groups taking advantage of the few minutes before their teacher entered to begin the afternoon lesson, but today was an exception to the norm as everyone was crowded around one specific person. Among all their chattering and laughter Hinata could still hear Naruto's voice above all others. It was torture hearing him sound so happy his good mood yanked at her heart making her feel uglier by the second.

Why was she so selfish? Naruto was finally getting what he always wanted and yet here she was hating everyone for being able to do what she couldn't. Once more she had become consumed by herself loathing t that she didn't notice when someone sat next to her. She didn't acknowledge her fellow classmate until they spoke to her. "They are all being such a nuisance flocking to that failure as thought he was some sort of god," The young male complained with his annoyance plain in his tone. Hinata frowned at his comment. Of course they would flock to him as though he was a god his light-hearted mood just radiated waves of warmth that were irresistible. She was sure that everyone in class would be surrounding Naruto but obviously Sasuke would be harder to win over. Never one to stay silent when spoken to and wanting to defend Naruto Hinata decided to reply.

"They are only with him because he's radiating such a warm vibe, can't you tell? If it was chilly wouldn't you want to bask in the sun's warm rays instead of huddling in the shadows shivering?" Hinata asked the unimpressed Uchiha.

"No. If it was cold I would not bother attempting to obtain the sun's weak warmth I would instead get a jacket like any other sensible person would do." Sasuke responded matter-of-factly.

Hinata sighed in disbelief, she looked up at his cold calculating eyes his face was almost unreadable but she could still see the annoyance he felt in his features. He had a slight glare with his mouth pulled down in a small frown showing his displeasure at his classmates' actions. "No, that's not what I meant."

He turned to her with a raised eyebrow questioning her with his stare. She could almost hear the question that his eyes were asking her. _Did she just say he was wrong?_ She shook her head lightly. "What I meant is that Naruto just has this comforting atmosphere about him that's hard for many to resist since it's so friendly."

He looked at her for a moment, judging her with his stare, as he contemplated her words. "So what you are saying is that they need someone to make them feel good and the failure has what they need so that's why they are with him?"

Hinata was starting to lose patience with this boy especially when he continued calling Naruto a failure. If anyone needed to be by Naruto's side this very moment it was Sasuke, then maybe the stick he had shoved up his- Hinata's thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of their sensei.

"Sorry I'm late the lunch meeting lasted a bit longer than it was intended to, but let's continue what we started learning yesterday."

The rest of the day Hinata and Sasuke didn't speak, which wasn't surprising as Sasuke rarely spoke to his classmates out of his own free will. It had actually surprised her when he had been the one to start a conversation and with her of all people. She assumed the reason why he had spoken to her was because he had assumed she was like him and found their classmates' behavior annoying and stupid. Honestly she did and she would've probably happily joined in bashing them, but once he spoke poorly of Naruto she could not be on his side. It was for the best that he had done that if she had made her thoughts vocal she would've turned just as ugly on the outside as she was already in the inside.

Once school was over Hinata made her way home her head hung lower than usual. She should've been striding down the sidewalk with her head held high proud that she had been able to help Naruto for the best, but she was too emotionally drained to feel any happiness especially when she was heading to a place that was cold and unwelcoming. To put it bluntly today was the worse. Her heart kept telling her that she should just go up to Naruto. It was really as simple as that, he had no reason to deny her. Everybody that had surrounded him today had all been people that usually were mean or just cold to him. She was neither; she was his silent cheerleader that stood at the sidelines silently praying for his happiness. As his secret cheerleader she should've felt delighted that she had achieved her goal to make Naruto happy. So why did she feel so horrible?

While battling her inner demons Hinata did not notice the group of children running towards. They caught her by surprise and her eyes widened as the kids ignored her and didn't care if they pushed her down. She fell and covered her face with her arms as not to get kicked in the face by accident. Naruto was with the group of kids running towards the park but he stopped when he noticed the small figure huddled in a ball covering their face, protecting themselves from the careless herd of kids. That kid looked so familiar. Naruto walked toward the frightened child, ignoring the other kids shouts to hurry up. Naruto bend down extending a hand to the young girl that now seemed to be shaking. "Hey, it's okay. Here let me help you up" Naruto offered with a gentle smile.

Hinata opened her eyes in shock at the sound of Naruto's soothing voice. She peered over her arms up at Naruto's face. He seemed to literally be radiating warmth as the sun was behind him making it difficult to look up at him. He looked like an angel as the sun's rays highlighted his features. Wordlessly Hinata took his hand and allowed him to help her up. "T-thank you," Hinata bowed her head in gratitude her face turning bright red.

Naruto flashed her a big, goofy grin "No problem!" He turned his head away as a blush threatened to appear on his face this was the second time today someone thanked him for something simple. "Oh are you okay?" Naruto asked concerned that the other kids might have hit her by accident.

"N-no, I'm okay" Hinata mumbled embarrassedly. All day she wanted to talk to him and now here he was and she was stuttering with no idea what to say to him.

"Well if you're okay then I'll be going," Naruto told her awkwardly as she just stood there fidgeting with her hands.

"Wait! Naruto-kun I just wanted to say that I'm really happy that you're in such a good mood a-and I hope it lasts because I like seeing you smile for real with no pain in your eyes!" Hinata bowed deeply before running off her face burning from saying something so embarrassing. Naruto was left standing there once more confused but feeling happier than ever. Two times today a mysterious girl had made him feel happiness that he hadn't experience in forever, if he actually ever felt it. All day he had talked about the beautiful girl that had cried on his shoulder that morning hoping that someone would tell him who she was but no one seemed to know. But this was the second encounter and now his resolve was made that he would find that girl and be friend her. He always thought he was the loneliest kid in school but he had just met someone that needed a friend more than him and he was determined to be that friend.

**I decided to turn this into a three part story, sorry if this part was more melancholy than cheerful, but I promise the final part will be happier and have much more fluff, until than please review and forgive any mistakes. **


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